Ah yes, the looks you get when you ride by people on a hot bike; your hair whipping out behind you, the sun shining. Then there are the ones that come up when you stop at a light and ask about it, or just plain oogle over it. Pride baby, pride.
Well I'd have to say that came to an abrupt end today. These are the days you wished you'd stayed home. I went out for a ride, being it was nice and cool, sun was out, no kid to worry about. Everything was going fine. I stopped at a light once I got into town, then proceeded to go visit my buds over at the local Yamaha dealer. Well, I hit second gear, goosed it, and the bitch wouldn't shift into third. Ok, clutch, quick rev, shift again...clunk. Hmmm....this doesn't sound right. Keep going; 4th, 5th, no 6th. Damn, this is really strange. Ok, light coming, time to downshift. Got to 4th, and that's where the shifter stayed. Now, talk about trying to get going in that gear. I rolled forward a bit, revved it up, and heard a tick-tick-tick coming from below.
It somehow came out of gear and I was able to get it back to first. I see the Suzuki dealer about a mile up the road, so I get it into second, and again it wouldn't hit third. I pull into the service bay and hop off my bike. The tech comes out and looked kinda pissed that I just ride right into his shop....until I pull off my helmet. Instant attitude change. Tell him what it's doing, and he smiles, goes down on his knees and takes a look at the shift linkage. I'm eyeballing it and tell him that I had replaced a washer on the back of the footpeg because it had been squashed about a week previous. "Well, it could be the retention spring, or the pin inside the clutch. Easy fix, as long as the bolt holding it on inside hasn't dropped into the motor."
Nooooooooooooo!!! I don't want to hear that. While he's checking parts, off comes the peg, and take a closer look at the peg. Hmmm...the shifter won't budge if the nut is tightened all the way. Weird, it should swivel on the peg. Pull out a shim, slap it back together, viola! Tells me to take it for a rip up the side road and come back if it's still doing it. So, I jump on, take off, and it goes thru all the gears. YES!!! I'm a happy camper.
Riding along for about an hour, I got the bike pressure washed off, did some running around that needed to be done, and decided to go visit a buddy. Gear down to come around a sharp curve, the bike starts missing. WTF. Get it straightened out, lay on the throttle and go. Seems fine. Ok, whew. Come up to a light, sit in neutral, it's idling kinda rough, so I give it a couple of pops on the throttle. Still doing it a bit but the light changed so I have to clear it because I have a semi sitting behind me wanting to turn. Get into first, let out the clutch not even 1/2 way and it dies. Try starting it again...nada. *insert major cursing here* Get my shorty legs down and try to scoot it far enuf ahead to let the truck clear, then got off and pushed it into the gas station. Push it a bit further down the road back to the Suzuki dealer, and go find that tech again.
While waiting up front, tech comes out with a booster reel and voltage meter. Pull off the seat, hook up the meter. Battery reads 10. That was a new battery this spring. Hook up the booster reel, and it won't start. Unhook the positive cable to the bike and run the booster direct and it fired right up. Hook up the tester to the cables, and it's not registering a charge. Ok, something crapped out. Find out the bike has an exterior alternator, and go hit up the parts guy for a price. "Well Lynn, this puppy is going to run you $1280.00., and it's back-ordered." *insert my now dirty underwear here*
Oh this can't be happening. Tech comes back and tells me the alternator also took out my battery. No no no....$1280 bucks??!! What is that fucking thing made out of titanium?!! No, it's because it's off a rare bike, they only made them for two years, and it only fits that bike. Shit shit shit!
Tech takes me into the back and explains to me that he will pop the cover off and test the internals; maybe it's a stuck brush or a melted diode. Knowing fully well I couldn't tackle it because I don't have those technical electric pieces of crap, I leave my baby's demise in the hands of a dealer I've never dealt with. I hear stories that I'll be banged with excess parts to pay for that aren't needed, and an inflated shop rate. *groan* Well, what do you do. Then the call comes in from hubz. "1280 bucks??!! What kind of a piece of shit did your brother give you? I bet you that asshole knew it was ready to calve and just flogged it to get rid of it! Bla bla bla bla bal!" Tech sees my expression while getting reamed out from the old boy and winks at me. Yeah, pal, I'm not in the mood for any cutsie wootsie here. Hang up the phone, and he pulls me off to the side. He tells me he'll do his best to find out what's wrong and not juice me. Tells me to go home, he'd call me with the diagnosis and what it'll take both parts and cash wise. Call friend to come bail me out and bring me home. Friend comes to pick me up, and within the first 5 miles I realize he didn't put on any deodorant. By now my head is swimming, and that rum and coke is looking awful good. Get out of his truck, and as he pulls away he tells me I should have bought a Ducati.
Ah....the joys of owning a rare bike. And now I find that hubz drank the last of the rum...
Joys of owning a rare bike....
Goodluck with the bike.
If I had the 10G to drop on that bike I would have, but hey, I couldn't pass up a freebie. I got to ride it for a while; now I just have to find the part. Hmmmm salvage yards. E-bay has nada. Apparently one off of an older 750 gixxer will fit it, but there again I have to do some digging. If you come across anything, let me know. There's no way in hell I'm going to pay $1300 for an alternator. Meh, I have the winter to find one. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll win the lottery and go buy a new one. 
Linear Mode
